How emotionaly attatched are you to your fish?

[George9]

I don't get very sad.
Well, actually it'd have to depend on the fish. If i lost a guppy, not that big of a deal. If I lost an angel that I had 6 years, yeah that'd be sad!

 

[Shay]

There are many faces here but do have those that are very special to me one in particuliar is "Missy" my lil fish j/k'ing, she's my chocolate cichlid / H. Temparalis when the day comes she'll be put in the shrine with my kitty out in the garden. As for the whole after that its just part of nature though the other time I do get a bit upset is when its one of the not so common ones or spendy ones that finding new stock can be rough.

Now for me the ones I get really upset over is the horses or birds since I've never replaced my kitty (just can't find the right one) and don't have a dog since the horses do almost all the things a dog would do except live in the house which any of them would be more than glad too LOL

 

[KatieJ]

Was she kidding?

No, I wasn't kidding. I love my fish and care for them just as much as I would any dog or cat.

 

[jlk]

There are many faces here but do have those that are very special to me one in particuliar is "Missy" my lil fish j/k'ing, she's my chocolate cichlid / H. Temparalis when the day comes she'll be put in the shrine with my kitty out in the garden. As for the whole after that its just part of nature though the other time I do get a bit upset is when its one of the not so common ones or spendy ones that finding new stock can be rough.

Now for me the ones I get really upset over is the horses or birds since I've never replaced my kitty (just can't find the right one) and don't have a dog since the horses do almost all the things a dog would do except live in the house which any of them would be more than glad too LOL

You have horses? I have had one or another (or 3-4) my whole life! All i have now is my retired tb mare (who ive had for 15yrs)...unfortunately, she has multicentric melanoma cancer & i am going to have to face putting her down in the near future. I love my fish, as i love all my pets, and if one passed/had to be euthanized, i would be heartbroken!!!!!!

 

[absolutangel04]

Yeah, I'm pretty attached to mine too. Some more than others of course. I cry when mine die. I have been pretty broken up about the poor health of a couple dwarf cichlids recently, but I am certainly far more devastated by the inevitable soon-coming loss of my darling squirrel that I have raised from an orphan baby 7.5 years ago. Still, I will be pretty darn upset someday when my angels die. Its also harder for me to lose a fish that I raised from a wee tot.

 

[Shay]

Yes, I have 4 horses and 1 is getting up there in age she's my red headed witch that I just love even though she's got a few quirks from her past that I just live with since its her and way too late in life to fix. Her shoulder is bad from track life but she still tries to buck me off on her once a month ride to the store and back thus she's not giving up yet (take her on this light ride just so she doesn't feel left out).

 

[DragonFish71]

I'm bothered when I lose a fish but to lose a fur-kid is hardest for me. I still cry every time I see a yellow lab and it's been 2 1/2 years since I had to put mine down.

 

[Alfredoman]

I cried real hard wen my gold fish died ( rip rex and sparky) they wer my first and i still get really sad but dont cry any more

 

[GuppyLover]

When its just a tetra or a guppy I dont get very upset. Feel a little bit sad then go throw it away and get over it, but when my angels died I was really upset I sat there for 2 hours fending off my fish while he laid in the corner barely breathing (I hadnt known about euthanization other then Clove Oil then) sobbing and telling him how sorry I was that he had to go through that. I still cry whenever I think of my baby turtle who got sick and died a few months ago and wonder what I could have done to prevent it. I really dont know what I'll do when I loose my beloved Sade (Dalmatian),. I'll be absolutley devastated.

 

[siva]

I usually don't get upset. Sometimes frustrated. Bettas are hard for me though..I can definitely tear up over a betta. Paticularly those kept in tanks by themselves that I had more of a 1:1 relationship with. If I'm responsible for the death, then it really gets to me. I once added a new male fiddler crab who killed my much loved existing male, and I pretty much lost it. That's the only time it's affected me like that.

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

I am incredibly attached to my fish. Whenever a betta passes on me, there is normally a good few days of mourning and all. That's actually how my boyfriend and I got so close. After our incredibly awful first date, I come back to my dorm and one of my rescues was dead. He stayed on the phone with me for five hours while I was in hysterics.

Even when one of my rainbows or danios jump, I get rather upset. I cry and am down all day. I had a bumble bee catfish that developed something bad and I was screaming and crying while I saw him suffer (put him down, of course).

I talk to my fish and have a pretty close connection. They all get lots of my time and energy. I would say I am very close to them. It is an obvious difference from how I am with my gecko. Although I can interact with him, he is not as aware of me as my fish are. Especially my flowerhorn. I almost feel like he talks to me.

Anyway, I'm going to be the crazy person who deals with fish deaths like they are humans. Guess that's why everyone calls me a crazy fish lady.

 

[SwimsWithFish]

I think everyone looks at it differently and that's great! Some people humanize them more than others.

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

Yea, I'm far from the worst of the crazy fish-keepers.

 

[Alfredoman]

How do u put a fish down

 

[siva]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f17/an-overview-of-euthanasia-73775.html

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I definitely get sad. More for some, than others. I was really upset a week or so back. I lost 5 fish from 3 tanks in only a few days, including my betta.

 

[tex777]

I guess I would say I get a little sad but mad at myself, thinking what have I done wrong? Or what could I have done to prevent this? All these things and more go through my mind.

This is what happens to me

 

[Kirstabelle]

Well I would say extremely because when any of my fish die I cry for 30 minutes

 

[WindSwept]

Some fish just pass without much more than a sigh and goodbye, but when I came home from school and my mom told me that our gold koi had been killed (not even eaten) by a heron I was choking on the tears.That fish would come up to greet me every time I passed the pond, bump my hand when I rearranged plants, but hide from any guest I brought over. None of the other fish are quite as personable as he was, and I miss that.

 

[siva]

Sometimes a situation can be really upsetting, even if there wasn't really an emotional attachment. A few days ago I had a dwarf frog caught in a filter intake tube. It was really bad. The frog could not be saved. That was pretty darn hard for me. I wasn't emotionally attached to the frog, but he went through a rather unpleasant ordeal that ended in it's death, so I felt much sorrow for the poor lil guy. Hopefully I can save some other froggies from the same fate, as going foward I will always recommend a sponge filter for ADF's.